But just one year later, a mood of crisis prevails: British troops are being sent to help the army maintain control of a strategically important district and many Afghans believe the Taliban are winning.
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The latest unrest in Helmand comes as President Ashraf Ghani has made a diplomatic outreach to Pakistan – the Taliban’s historic backers – aimed at restarting peace talks with the insurgents.
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Afghan commanders have appealed for more North Atlantic Treaty Organisation support amid reports that government forces have lost control of the key strategic town of Sangin to the Taliban.
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Government reinforcements were rushed to relieve dozens of police and army units holed up in the district centre, deputy Helmand governor Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar told AFP on Wednesday.
Acting defence minister Masoom Stanekzai said fighting in the Sangin district of Helmand is continuing as army and police arrive to help security forces who have been pinned down for days. Another local official, who spoke VICE News on the conditional of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, admitted that the police station and administrative headquarters had been overrun by the Taliban.
The commander of U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Gen. John Campbell, said recently that the Afghan forces were still challenged by practical matters such as logistics, as well as lagging confidence.
Districts across Helmand have been threatened by the Taliban in recent months.
In addition to the airstrikes, Afghan officials conducted air drops of food and ammunition for government forces and civilians on the ground in Sangin.
The Taliban issued their own taunts to Britain, gloating the country was “stupid” for redeploying military advisers back to Helmand.
The loss of Sangin would be a significant blow for the government in Kabul because it is central to the opium trade and was a stranglehold for the insurgents.
The war in Helmand, seen as the epicentre of the expanding insurgency, underscores worsening security in Afghanistan a year after North Atlantic Treaty Organisation formally ended its combat operations.
“Taking on the responsibility for security from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and other global troops was a huge challenge for us”, Sediqqi said, speaking of the Afghan troops who now shoulder full responsibility for the country’s security.
Since 2014, the United States and UK have pulled back their troops from the front lines, letting Afghan forces stand alone.
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Stuart Gordon, a Helmand expert at the Chatham House think tank, told Britain’s Press Association news agency that Sangin held a special significance to the British as more than 100 British troops had been killed there. The military has also been plagued by mass desertions, a lack of supplies, and leadership confusion, as Afghan forces are often left in far-flung regions of the country without reinforcements or supplies.
